PSC Welcomes LPTA Language in NDAA

Arlington, Va., May 19, 2016—The Professional Services Council (PSC) strongly supports “lowest-price technically-acceptable” (LPTA) language in the House-passed and Senate Armed Services Committee-approved versions of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that advanced in Congress this week.

PSC sent separate letters today to Members of Congress who led the efforts to ensure that the Department of Defense uses LPTA only under appropriate circumstances moving forward. In the first letter to Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Rob Wittman (R-Va.), PSC thanked the members for teaming up on an amendment that mirrors their standalone legislation titled the Promoting Value Based Defense Procurement Act, H.R. 4999. The amendment was added to the NDAA prior to its passage on May 18. PSC sent a similar letter to Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) who championed the Senate version of the standalone legislation, S. 2826. PSC also supports the language from S. 2826 that was included in the Senate Armed Services Committee-passed version of the NDAA this week.

The Promoting Value Based Defense Procurement Act’s provisions encourage DoD to avoid, to the maximum extent practicable, relying on LPTA source selection criteria for certain types of services contracts, including information technology services, systems engineering and technical assistance services, and other knowledge-based professional services. It also directs DoD to use LPTA only in situations where it can clearly define performance requirements and determine that technical proposals of offerors other than the lowest bidder would result in no, or minimal, benefit to the Department.

“The legislative language aligns with recent DoD internal guidance which, if followed, will avoid an overreliance on LPTA that hinders DoD’s ability to maintain a best-in-class competitive edge; inhibits DoD’s flexibility in making valuable tradeoffs among cost, innovation, and capabilities; and risks higher long-term costs due to mission failures and contract rework actions,” said PSC President and CEO David Berteau in the letter.

“PSC is optimistic that the language will be retained in the final version of the NDAA,” Berteau added.

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About PSC: PSC is the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s nearly 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states. Follow PSC on Twitter @PSCSpeaks.